Relative Dimension 01: Mindpower
by MartyCessna
Summary: The Doctor meets Cara, a mysterious human girl, and together they discover odd things happening at historic Fort Vancouver, things that threaten history and the world itself!
1. Chapter 1

It was Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A., and it was raining. This would make it a perfectly normal day, except that the sky was completely clear and blue. Even this would be acceptable except that nothing was getting wet. Though all of this new information seems to bring into question the validity of the first statement, all of the above are true and can be explained away simply by this clarification; it was raining odd events.

They say that when it rains, it pours, however the only thing of any interest that was currently pouring was a pitcher of milk. The only reason this particular pitcher of milk is interesting is because it was pouring into the mug of coffee soon to be owned by a young woman reading a science fiction magazine.

The young woman turned a page, giggling, as her coffee was set down. She thanked the person holding the pitcher and giggled again at her magazine.

Another diner, an older man with a balding head, suddenly threw down his menu in annoyance,

"What's so funny that you've got to giggle every twenty seconds?"

"Sorry," the young woman replied honestly, "I just find science fiction funny. I really don't know why."

"Well, keep it to yourself," the man gruffly returned to his menu. His dining partner shrugged and tossed her ringlet hair.

The young woman shrugged back, "Sure."

She returned to her magazine, trying to quiet her mirth.

She was just beginning to snort at the latest blonde cyborg woman when she heard a strange noise. It was very faint, almost blending in with the sounds of downtown Vancouver, but it resonated in her ears. It was somewhere between a jet engine and some poor soul trying unsuccessfully to start his car's engine.

"Does anyone hear that?" she asked.

The other diners barely looked up.

"Isn't that a weird sound?" she tried again.

The ringlet-haired woman looked at her with mild tolerance, "What does it sound like?"

"Like an airplane in need of a jump," the young woman stood up, "or maybe a mad washing machine. I'm going to investigate!" She marched out.

"You do that," grumped the man.

The young woman followed her ears down the sidewalk. She passed several small businesses and streets until she found herself at Pearson Field. The sound was very faint now, but definitely coming from the west.

"Fort Vancouver!" the girl realized. She hurried, hoping it would continue until she could find it. She didn't know why she wanted to find it. She just did.

Then it was gone.

"No!" she cried. She was standing in the parking lot of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, with no jumper cables or washing machines in view. She blinked to her left, "Maybe it was some old classic plane landing at Pearson."

But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't the truth. Something else had made that sound. Something strange, close and…blue?

"What an odd place to park a portable bathroom."

She squinted and walked toward the fort entrance. A blue box stood just outside the large fort gates. She saw a woman leave the box, followed by a man.

The young woman rolled her eyes, "Typical."

Then another man came out, and another woman. And another woman.

Blinking, the young woman counted again, "Five…all _five _of them were in there? That's not possible!"

Intrigued, she headed down the path to investigate. She reached the box to find it not a portable bathroom but a telephone booth. A sign reading, "Police Public Call Box" was painted above the door.

Curious, the young woman tried the door. It was locked.

"Some _public_ call box," she frowned. She looked at it disappointedly, then tried to peek in the windows. Glancing back, she noticed that two of the men and two of the women had paired off, leaving one man alone. The two couples headed into the fort, while the lone man walked nonchalantly around the grounds. He absently strolled into the area that used to be the workers' village.

Not knowing why, the young woman followed him, looking equally nonchalant as she paused to "read" the informational plaques. She saw the man stop and turn around. He was gazing confusedly and slightly sadly at nothing before shrugging it off and heading back to his "Police Public Call Box".

The young woman hurried after him, bumping into a man with a Clark College sweatshirt. He pointed to her in recognition, "Aren't you the girl who nearly got…"

"Yes!" the young woman interrupted, rushing on.

The man with the Police Public Call Box opened its door with a key and stepped inside. He shut it…on the young woman's shoe. Surprised, he said nothing for a few seconds.

She glanced up at the sign, "Making a call?"

"Yes, and it's an important one, so if you'll excuse me…" the man smiled politely.

The girl crossed her arms, "Isn't the telephone out here?" She pointed to the compartment she'd discovered earlier when she'd tried to open the door.

The man glanced from her out to the parking lot and back, "How'd you even see…oh never mind. You really should go now."

"Oh, please, I really am just curious," the young woman gave him a pleading look, "I'd just like to know how so many people can fit in there."

The man raised an eyebrow at her, "What did you see?"

"I saw five people get out of a telephone booth mysteriously sitting on the Hudson's Bay Company's historic front porch," she replied.

"Really," the man looked at her thoughtfully, "most people don't notice."

She looked around and saw this to be true. She shrugged, "I noticed. I was just sitting there drinking my coffee and heard a strange sound, so I came to see and lo and behold, there's a strange blue thing in a spot where only a bench was before. But you still haven't answered my question."

The man tilted his head thoughtfully, "Well, it's a bit complicated."

"I've got time," the girl replied.

The man grinned, "not quite that much."

The girl glanced around, "Really. I don't actually have anywhere to be. Heck, I don't even have a place to live, really." _Why did I just say that?_

There was a flash of sympathy in the man's eyes, replaced by a grin, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"Cara," she nodded in introduction, holding out her hand.

The Doctor paused and squinted at her for a mysterious moment before shaking his head and smiling.

"Nice to meet you," he shook her hand, "Would you like to come in?"

Cara eyed him suspiciously before agreeing. As soon as she stepped inside, she was greeted with an orderly tangle of cables, lights, and panels. In the center of the room stood a pillar of bluish-green light.

"It's beautiful!" she gasped.

The Doctor smiled and walked to the pillar, patting its control-covered base proudly, "It's a TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's a ship, travels through time and space. Anywhere, anytime."

"But the outside…" Cara looked around the room, noting every detail.

"A telephone box from the 1950's," the Doctor watched her, "It's a disguise; it's so out-of-place that most people would rather not notice it. So they don't."

"I know the feeling," the girl said softly. She recomposed herself, "Clever, though." She walked to what she now realized was a control console and examined several of the gadgets attached to it, "So, you from England?"

"Close," replied the Doctor, "I'm from Gallifrey."

Cara scrunched up her face in thought, "Gallifrey. Sounds familiar; someplace in Europe?"

"It's a planet, actually…please don't touch that!"

She froze, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No no, of course not," the Doctor smiled reassuringly, "I stopped you."

"Oh." Cara sat on what appeared to be a bench and stared at the green pillar, "Shiny."

The Doctor sat beside her.

"So, you're an alien, huh?" Cara asked him.

"Yep."

Cara smiled, "I've always had a thing for spaceships."

"Well," the Doctor replied, "the TARDIS is that. Maybe not entirely reliable, but she'll get you…somewhere."

"Good thing for a ship to do," Cara giggled.

"Sometimes the TARDIS finds a place of her own to land," the Doctor scrutinized the instruments for a moment before continuing, "That's how I ended up here, actually. My companions wanted to go home to Earth in the early 21st century, so off we went. Funny thing is, something drew the Tardis to this specific spot, and I can't figure out what it is," he faded off into thought, still mumbling, "would have been something strong, seemed like a distress signal or beacon through time and space."

"Someone in trouble?" Cara asked.

The Doctor nodded, "Could be."

"Is that what you do, then?" she asked, "Help people in trouble?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded again, "at least, I try to. Actually, I'm just a traveler. People needing help just seem to find me all along the way."

The young woman sighed, "Well, if it was me, you're a bit late," she smiled wryly, "I'm 'The Girl Who Nearly Got Run Over On The College Sidewalk' as of about two hours ago."

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked, looking her over concernedly.

"I'm fine," Cara smiled, "but security wasn't much help. They just said they were 'aware of the problem'. They're just _aware _that people are being attacked by rogue sedans on their way to classes?" she huffed, "It just makes me upset, what if someone had been hurt or killed? Could still happen, as much as they seem to care." She giggled, "I should sue, they could have given me heart attacks!"She looked suddenly worried, "Oops, er, heart _attack_…"

The Doctor glanced at her curiously, "Excuse me?"

"It's nothing," she shook her head.

The Doctor turned his honest brown eyes to hers, "Nothing is nothing."

Cara sighed, "Okay, okay, You told me you were an alien, I'll tell you I'm a mutant. Feel better now?"

"How are you a mutant?" the Doctor asked.

"Apparently there was a lot of radiation around when I was conceived. I ended up with all kinds of weird medical problems." Cara explained, "including an extra heart. Usually it's dormant, but every once in a while, I get a double heartbeat. I'm also allergic to fruit, fluorescent lighting, and most medications. I have in insanely complex series of psychological issues, I get diseases no one's ever encountered before, yet I'm immune to the more common ones. There are tons of weird things about me, thanks to that stinking nuclear plant."

"Do you want to go somewhere?" the Doctor suddenly asked with a charming grin.

"Huh?" Cara blinked, "you mean, away from Earth?"

"Anywhere, anywhen."

Cara smiled, "Sounds great, let's go!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Thump _the Tardis landed.

"Are we there?" Cara looked up from the various objects that controlled the Tardis' functions.

The Doctor nodded, his hair flopping, "1845, Fort Vancouver at its peak, just as I promised."

Cara grinned and went to the door. She stepped out, glancing around herself in awe. The few milling tourists had been replaced by a bustling trading village. Buildings seemed to have sprung from the soil. The masts from a large wooden ship could be seen just beyond the fort. Trappers, pioneers, and Native Americans came and went, most carrying bundles and wagonloads of goods.

Breathing in the unpolluted air, Cara eagerly absorbed all of the sights and sounds. She grinned at the familiar sight of the eight-sided tower.

_The real one_, she thought, _and brand new, too. _She was momentarily saddened to think that, along with the rest of the fort, it would burn to the ground in about 20 years.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the Doctor standing just behind her.

"So?"

She jumped, then gave him a satisfied smile, "It's amazing, just as I imagined it except that it's real. We're really here!"

The Doctor nodded, smiling back, "Want to go explore?"

"We can do that?" she asked, "We won't mess up the timeline or anything?"

"Not if we're careful," he winked and stepped past her. She followed him and together they entered the fort gates.

"Where to first?" Cara asked, her eyes wide in wonder.

The Doctor nodded to her, "It's your fort, you tell me."

She glanced around for a while, then pointed, "The blacksmith's shop, over in that corner. It always fascinated me."

They visited the blacksmith's shop, where the Doctor commissioned a spare part for the Tardis to be made.

"Never can have too many spare parts," he told Cara.

She secretly thought that the TARDIS might _be_ spare parts.

They went to the landing and watched men unloading the trade goods from around the world.

"All of that stuff came such a long way, out here from civilization to wilderness," Cara remarked, "Those sailors have probably been here and back several times. What a life that is! I've never even been out of this country."

The Doctor gave her a look somewhere between amusement and sad understanding.

_There's something lonely about this man, _Cara thought upon seeing the look, _and yet, he also seems so self-reliant. I wonder what's happened to him._

Next, the pair went to the tower. Cara was surprised that it wasn't guarded.

"They hardly ever used the cannons, and only to salute arriving ships," she rationalized, "there's not a war going on."

The view from the tower was drastically different from Cara's own time. There were no highways, no railroad tracks, airports, or military vehicles. Instead, there was a clear view of the workers' villages and even the Columbia River. From the villages, the smell of cooking stew wafted into the wooden structure.

"Hungry?" the Doctor asked.

She nodded, "Time to leave, then, I suppose."

"Not unless you want to," he answered, "do you?"

"No way, we just got here!" Cara replied, "So what, did you bring a picnic dinner in that box of yours?"

The Doctor gave her a sly grin, "Not exactly."

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the most fancy of the buildings. It was painted bright white and had vines growing in a shady roof over the front porch.

"The Chief Factor's house?" Cara gasped.

The Doctor nodded, "Are you up for formal dining?"

"Well…" Cara glanced down at her jeans, "I'm not really sure I know how to have a fancy dinner with 200-year-old famous men."

"How about a 900-year-old not-quite-as-famous man?" the Doctor asked, pointing to himself.

"Wow, you don't look a day over 205!" Cara giggled and looked again at the house, "Well, never argue with the driver. But how are we going to get in?"

Already, several well-dressed men were walking into the house. A lady in a long dress strolled by, enlisting the help of a young man to glide up the curved porch steps.

Cara stood there with her mouth open, "Doctor, I left my parasol at home."

The Doctor glanced down at his clothes, "Well, they've never seen clothes like these. I really don't think anyone will notice."

"Like your Tardis." Cara nodded, "But still, I feel silly."

"You look fine," the Doctor reassured her, "Trust me."

The girl nodded uncertainly and followed her new friend up the porch steps. She marveled at the creak of wooden boards under her feet and the ivy above her head. Compared to the other fort buildings, it was extravagant and imposing.

The interior did nothing to diminish this appearance. Thickly carpeted floors guided the visitors into different rooms. As the pair followed most of the crowd into the dining room, they caught glimpses of other plush rooms on either side. The dining room itself seemed to take up half the house, with a long table carefully and properly laid out for the arrival of the first course. The guests were standing near chairs and talking politely to each other. None seemed to notice the two strangers in their midst.

Cara relaxed a little and stood near the Doctor, who just watched it all with a smile on his face.

The room suddenly hushed as a white-haired man strode in. His strong jaw and piercing gaze gave him a fearsome appearance.

"That's him!" Cara mouthed, "John McLoughlin. _The _John McLoughlin."

The Chief Factor turned his steady gaze around the room as he took his seat, not glaring, just assessing who was there.

"Good evening, dear friends," he said. Everyone sat.

McLoughlin nodded towards the Doctor and Cara, "I see we are blessed with new faces at our table. Tell, friends, who are you and where are you from?"

The Doctor spoke, "I'm the Doctor, and this is my companion, Cara. We were just passing through and thought we'd stop by."

A few eyebrows raised at the word "companion".

"If that's all right," Cara added, forgetting her attempt to be ladylike and quiet.

McLoughlin smiled warmly, "Of course, Madam, we are happy to have you as guests." He turned to the rest of the table, "Now, let us say grace and eat!"

The rest of the guests tittered amusedly at the emphasis on the last word.

Cara relaxed again, remembering how highly the Chief Factor's hospitality had been spoken of. He'd even gotten into a lot of trouble for helping the American settlers.

_Apparently the history books got the hospitality part right, _she mused as everyone bowed their heads and the white-haired man at the head of the table humbly offered his gratitude for having so much to share with friends and strangers alike.

All through the meal, Cara remembered to act as ladylike as possible. She carefully watched the other women in the room and emulated their actions to the best of her ability. She did drop a fork once, but no one seemed to notice and there were plenty at her setting to replace it.

The last course was finally finished, and Cara hid a sigh of relief. Despite the ever-so-tiny bites she'd taken, she could not eat another bite.

_If I see any more food, I'll suffocate! _She thought.

Bidding them all good night, the Chief Factor stood and retired for the night. The rest of the guests also stood and left, most of them men heading to the gentlemen's quarters.

The girl paused on the porch. She heard the Doctor walk up behind her, but her eyes remained on the sky.

"It's so clear tonight," she remarked, "without Portland's city lights, you can't even distinguish constellations."

"One of the benefits of living in a less populated time," the Doctor answered her, his voice as serene as the night.

Cara nodded and breathed in the air, smelling the scents of villages, livestock, cedar, and a hint of sea saltiness. She smiled, "It's so amazing here, seeing everything when it was new and young. I may have used the very dishes today that I saw in the archaeology department in my time." She hugged herself against a sudden cold wind, "and the people! Well I would never have imagined having dinner with John McLaughlin! The whole evening, it was like a dance or a dream."

"So you had a good time then?" the Doctor asked.

The girl smiled at the sleepy scene of the fort bedding down for the night. The clanking of tools echoed from the blacksmith's shop as they finished the day's work. Uniformed guards changed shifts at the storehouses. Somewhere, a horse whinnied at the wind blowing through the trees.

"Oh yes," Cara replied, turning back to the Doctor, "yes, I definitely did." She hid a tired yawn and blinked a few times.

The Doctor gently steered her toward the steps, "I should get you home."

"No no, I'm," she yawned, "fine."

"Well, I'm tired," the Doctor grinned, "so it's back to the Tardis for us. Never argue with the driver, remember?"

Cara nodded, "Yeah, okay. Let's g-…"

She tumbled from view with the first step. The sound of wood cracking caused several windows of the house to light up.

The Doctor was down the steps in an instant, avoiding carefully the broken one. He knelt beside Cara as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his eyes reflecting in the porch lanterns.

The girl stood shakily, "Mostly embarrassed. I don't remember reading about dangerous porch steps in the history books," she joked. Then she gasped a little and flopped backward. The Doctor quickly caught her.

"What's going on over here?" the light of a lantern spilled suddenly over the two. A guard had arrived to investigate. Seeing Cara wincing in the Doctor's grasp, he rushed to assist,

"Sir, unhand that lady at once!"

"No, it's okay," Cara cried, "I fell and he was helping me. He's a Doctor." She added quickly.

The guard relaxed somewhat, "Are you sure you are all right?"

Nodding, the girl pointed to the porch, "I would have a carpenter take a look at those steps though, if I were you. I don't think they're safe."

The guard eyed them warily, but bade them goodnight and walked back toward the rear gate. He turned to say one more thing, "The way things have been going, we could use another doctor around here."

The Doctor helped Cara back onto her feet, "Let's get you to the Tardis."

The young woman didn't argue as the Doctor helped her limp out of the gate and back into the misleadingly small blue box. He showed her to a comfy sofa and pulled an ottoman up for her injured leg.

"How badly does it hurt?" he asked her, wary of touching any sore spots.

The girl shook her head, "It doesn't any more, really. It's just kind of tingly."

The Doctor frowned, looking at a tear in her jeans where a nail had ripped from the wood. There was a little bit of blood from a scrape, but no scrape.

"So, Doctor, am I going to live?" Cara asked jokingly.

"Hmm?" he looked up, then grinned, "Oh, yes. You'll be fine. You certainly fared better than the staircase."

"Poor staircase," she giggled, then she gasped, "Oh, oh no! I didn't screw up the timeline did I?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't think so. Someone would have stepped on that sooner or later."

"But what if someone was supposed to?" the girl asked, then answered herself thoughtfully, "though maybe _I_ was supposed to…"

The Doctor nodded matter-of-factly, "At any rate, what happened has happened. I should probably get you home."

"Aw, not yet." Cara protested, "there's so much more to see here, to do. And other places and times too!"

The Doctor blinked and nodded again, "Yes, that's true."  
"And I want to see it. All of it!" Cara added.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

The Doctor grinned widely, "Fantastic! But you still need to sleep."

The girl grinned tiredly, "yes, I do at that. Goodnight, Doctor." She fell almost instantly to sleep.

The Doctor watched his new companion for a while before whispering, "Goodnight."


	3. Chapter 3

Boom!

Water closed around her. Her head struck something hard.

Boom!

Somewhere was the sound of a metal door slamming shut, echoing as if in a cave.

Boom!

Fiery rocks slammed into everything, leaving trails of flame.

Boom!

She fell to the ground in total pain and felt her life draining away.

Boom!

Guns fired around her, ricocheting off…something…and suddenly she felt like her mouth was full of sand.

Boom!

The world exploded, and she was trapped on it, trying desperately to reach something.

Boom!

The girl sat up, breathing hard, "What? What's going on?"

The Doctor's head popped up from a hatchway in the floor. He smiled at her reassuringly, "Not to worry, it's just the fort guns welcoming a ship."

Cara flopped back down, "Whew, they were giving me the strangest nightmares."

"Oh?" the Doctor pulled himself up and closed the hatch.

"Yeah, it was as if I was dying, over and over, every time a cannon fi-…" she stopped, then leapt up, "Wait…that's not cannon fire!"

She and the Doctor exchanged looks and both of them dashed out the Tardis door.

Cara stared open-mouthed as a barrage of bullets struck the fort and surrounding area.

"I'm pretty sure this shouldn't be happening!" she cried.

The Doctor glanced up, "I'm pretty sure those planes aren't supposed to be here."

They both watched as three small aircraft swooped and dived, blasting their machine guns at the fort.

The Doctor watched the sky uneasily "Those are pusher-style planes from World War I. The first airplane doesn't even make its flight for another 58 years. Which means we have a problem."

A cannon fired at a low-flying plane.

"We'll have an even bigger problem in they shoot one down!" Cara yelped, "That technology's a long way from what they have out here!" She ran to the closed gate and rattled the small door set into it.

"Wait a moment," the Doctor dashed over and pulled out the penlight he'd used before on the dirt. Up close, Cara could see that it wasn't a penlight at all. She watched the Doctor shine it onto the lock as it made a strangely soothing buzzing sound.

"What…?"

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said as an explanation. The lock clicked and the Doctor opened the door.

The girl followed him through it, "Futuristic lock-pick?"

"That's one of its uses, yes." The Doctor turned and suddenly pushed her down as one of the planes made a strafing run, splintering the gate and blowing the lock off the door.

"There's irony for you," the Doctor grinned wryly. He helped the girl up.

"We're at a fur-trading fort in 1845, being shot at by World War I planes, and you're grinning?" Cara asked.

The Doctor shrugged, "I don't do panic. Besides, I've gotten used to this sort of thing. And," He pointed, "I think they're leaving."

Sure enough, the planes disappeared into the clouds.

Cara watched them, "None of this makes any sense! Do you think, do you think we caused this somehow?"

The Doctor stared at the clouds where the planes had vanished, "No. I don't think so." His gaze dropped to the inner courtyard of the fort, "No, look. No one's outside except us. They knew it was going to happen and took cover. I've got the feeling that this has been going on for longer than we've been here."

"You're right about that," said a voice from behind them.

They turned to see a young, well-dressed man standing in the doorway of a small building next to the gate. He pointed to the sky,

"Those things have been attacking us for the past week now."

"A week?" the Doctor asked incredulously. He recovered quickly, as though storing the information for later, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"Right," the young man nodded politely, "I saw you both at dinner last night. I'm Jacob Muller, head of fort security."

"And I'm…" Cara started, then stopped, "confused."

"As am I," Jacob admitted, "No one's ever seen such steel birds before, much less does anyone know why they've been trying to kill us."

The Doctor looked at the young man sympathetically, "Must be frustrating, you in charge of security and all you can do is take cover and wait for them to pass."

"It is," Jacob agreed, "It's a mystery."

"So how do we solve it?" Cara asked, "Do you think anyone else knows anything?"

"I doubt it," the Doctor replied, "No offence to Mr. Muller, but I'm betting everyone else is as clueless as he is."

"But any information we could get would be helpful," Cara countered.

Jacob sighed, "I'm afraid the Doctor's right about us being clueless. About all we know is that every morning at exactly 07:32, they come swooping out of the sky and fill the place with bullet holes. They do it regardless of whether there's anyone to shoot at."

"Very interesting," the Doctor paused thoughtfully, then asked, "Has anyone gotten a good look at them?"

"No," Jacob replied quickly, then soberly added, "No one who's lived to tell about it, anyway." He looked distant for a while, then turned to them again, "One other thing, don't try to talk to anyone about this. Most people don't have any intelligent words to offer on the subject. Some even say they're beings from the stars."

"Aliens?" Cara frowned, "What would aliens want with a fur trading post?"

Jacob laughed, "Anything's possible!" He suddenly sobered, "What's your theory, Doctor?"

"Haven't got one yet," the Doctor replied, "But I'm working on it."  
"Well I wish you both the best of luck," Jacob grinned, "Now if you'll excuse me Sir, Ma'am." He tipped his hat and walked off.

Cara watched him go, "That was…creepy."

"Really?" the Doctor cocked his head at her.

She shrugged, "I don't know what it was, he just made me uneasy. Maybe it was the generation gap," she joked.

The Doctor nodded, "That's another thing you'll get used to if you travel through time long enough. Still, it did seem as though he knew more than he was telling."

"How do you get that?" Cara asked.

"Instinct," the Doctor tapped his head, "and you're not too hard to figure out, you humans."

Cara giggled, "Okay, Mr. Genius, let's go solve the mystery. Where do we start?"

The Doctor looked around, "We could ask around, though I'm willing to bet no one knows much of anything. We could wait until tomorrow and try to engage one of the pilots in conversation. Or, we could poke around and see what we can find."

"I vote poke around." Cara dubiously eyed several trappers as they stomped past, traps slung over their shoulders. She frowned, "If Jacob's hiding something, where would he hide it?"

"In a place as small and busy as this," the Doctor reasoned, "most likely someplace clever. Right under the noses of the unsuspecting public."

"Again like the Tardis," Cara replied, "So what's the most under-the-nose place in a fur-trading outpost?"

The Doctor grinned, "Of course! The fur stores!"

They both headed toward the buildings against the far wall of the fort. One guard stood outside each, keeping watch and ready to assist any traders. At the moment, they appeared bored. As Cara and the Doctor approached one of them, his face almost brightened with the prospect of something to do.

"Act casual," the Doctor told Cara, "whatever I say, just go along with it."

"You're the expert," Cara whispered back.

The guard called to them, "Hold up there; state your business."

The Doctor strolled right up to him, holding up what appeared to be a wallet containing a white blank piece of paper.

"Our business is business," the Doctor nodded, "You see, my wife and I have been given this voucher for supplies and were told to come here to receive them."

The guard looked dubiously at Cara, "Your…wife…"

"Yes," the Doctor smiled and put an arm around Cara, "Married last year and decided to travel the world, but now we're headed home to London on the next ship and need some supplies for the journey."

Cara played along, leaning against the Doctor's coat and nodding solemnly.

The guard shook his head, "I'm sorry, sir. I'd like to help you but I'm under strict orders not to let anyone in. No admittance."

Blinking, the Doctor's expression turned to one of pleading, "You don't understand, on our way here, our boat capsized and that's when she got ill and we lost everything! All our food, blankets, and…" the Doctor lowered his voice, "with her condition, you know…she gets cold so easily. I'm afraid for her health." The Doctor leaned forward conspiratorially, "ever since she got sick, she hasn't been able to talk at all. In fact, she can hardly breathe at times."

Cara threw in a few convincing coughs.

The guard's eyes opened wide and he looked at Cara as though he'd never seen her before, "My god, should she be traveling?"

"We have no choice," the Doctor shook his head sadly, "We must get back home as quickly as possible. Her mother is ill and wants to see her before…well."

The guard looked conflicted before nodding, "Of course." He gave Cara a sympathetic look, "Be quick, there are plenty of warm blankets and food barrels. Hurry now!"

The guard peeked around and let them slip into the door. It closed behind them with a solid thud.

"Whew," Cara whispered, stifling a giggle, "I spend one night with you and suddenly we're married!"

"And you're mute," the Doctor added with a grin, "you were brilliant in your part."

"Thank you," Cara looked surprised at him, "We make a pretty good team."

She scanned the room with her eyes. It was indeed full of blankets and food barrels. There were several shelves with beads and trinkets. Everywhere, hanging from the walls and ceiling and piled up on the floor, were furs.

"No offence to the Hudson's Bay Company, but the décor leaves a lot to be desired," Cara wrinkled her nose, "Dead animals just don't to it for me." She glanced over at the Doctor, "Find anything?"

The Doctor walked through the room, "It would help if we knew what we were looking for."

"It's just a guess that there's anything in here." Cara agreed, "but I suspect something is. Most stores aren't locking customers out without a reason."

"Right," the Doctor nodded once, eyeing the piles of fur suspiciously.

Cara went to the shelves, checking through the items. None seemed out of place to her, but something still didn't seem right. She peeked around, half-expecting something to leap out and attack her like in a horror film.

She finally shook her head and turned around, "Nothing strange over here…aaagh!"

As she turned around, she tripped on something and smacked backwards into the shelving. The shelves shook and something large and dead flopped off the top, landing at Cara's feet with a horrible thud.

Eyes wide, Cara jumped sideways away from it, "Doctor!"

He rushed over and looked from her terrified face down to the floor, "Hmm," he examined the dead creature, "you're not from around here, are you?"

Cara gulped and looked at the rubbery-skinned blue creature. In many ways, it resembled a typical Roswell alien. It was a thin-bodied humanoid, but only half her height. Its hands were thin and greasy. It had a small mouth, no nostrils, and two large catlike eyes. The really odd thing was the aviator's helmet it wore.

"What…or who…is or was it?" Cara stammered.

The Doctor shook his head, "I'm not certain what race, but I'd definitely say he's not supposed to be here any more than the planes were."

"No wonder they didn't want us in here," Cara blinked, "Could he be one of the pilots? And what was he doing up there, dead?"

She and the Doctor both looked up.

"Ah," they both said upon seeing the plane parts perched in the rafters.

"How is it going in he-…" The guard arrived, but stopped short when he saw the body and the two accusing glares.

The guard's face went grim as he stared at them both, "I'm going to have to ask you both to leave."

"Leave?" Cara exclaimed, forgetting her cover.

The guard's eyebrow raised, "Oh, you can speak now?"

The Doctor was silent for a half-second, then suddenly burst into motion, grabbing Cara into a hug.

"It's a miracle!" he shouted and twirled her past the startled guard and out the door. Together, they raced around the store building and across the courtyard to hide behind the blacksmith's shop.

"Well," Cara remarked, "at least we know what they're hiding."

"Hmm, do we?" the Doctor asked, "we still don't know very much about the pilots. We don't know who they are, why they came, or how that one died. Or how to put things right."

"Okay, so we don't know the _whole _secret." Cara admitted, "at least we know that there's more to this than mysterious aliens in airplanes randomly attacking a trading post."

"We know that we can't trust anyone," the Doctor added, "Anybody could be in on the cover-up. And we may have been spotted running out of the building. We could be in a lot of trouble."

"Right," Cara nodded, "so what now?"

"What now," the Doctor paused in thought, "we need more information."

"Yeah, but where do we get it?" Cara frowned.

A raindrop splattered on her face. She rolled her eyes at the sky, "Weather hasn't changed much in 160 years."

She squinted her eyes at the clouds as they began to move more quickly into roiling, tumbling masses.

"I take that back!" she gasped, "we don't have many tornadoes here back in 2008!"

A large white cloud had suddenly twisted itself from the sky toward the ground. As it hit somewhere outside the fort, it turned brown and then black from the dirt and debris.

"What?" the Doctor stared at it.

"It's coming right for us!" Cara cried.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and shouted over the roar of the storm, "Then I suggest we get out of its way!"

Cara and the Doctor raced from building to building, struggling against the wind. Tree branches tumbled around them and the bell in the belfry rang by itself. Once or twice, a gust of wind slammed them hard against a wall or post. By the time they reached the Tardis, both of them were exhausted.

"Quick, get inside!" the Doctor cried, opening the door.

Cara got one last look at the fort just as the twister struck the Chief Factor's house. Large bits of wood and plush furniture swirled up into the angry sky. Cara closed her eyes and stepped into the police box.

She sat in the couch in partial shock as the ship rocked around her.

"It's gone. So fast, just gone."

The Doctor made adjustments to the central console to keep the Tardis' exterior from blowing away, then sat beside Cara, deep in his own thoughts. He suddenly asked, "How many people do you think live in the fort?"

"What?" Cara looked sad.

"Inside, not counting the outer villages."

Cara shrugged, "About a hundred, more or less."

"And not a single cry for help when that storm came on," the Doctor mused, "not a single panicked face in a window. No rushing about, no movement of any kind, in fact."

"Now that you mention it, that is odd," Cara realized.

The Doctor's eyes widened, "Ahh, yes, but that's not all. The interesting bit is that it was only as you mentioned the weather that it changed so dramatically."

Cara looked bewildered, "Then it's…my fault? Huh?"

"I suppose it…no…no!" the Doctor's expression changed, "It's not, because it never happened! Just like the pusher planes and the aliens! Maybe the stairs, too, come to think of it," he added.

"What do you mean?" Cara cried, "we saw all of those happen!"

"Looks can be deceiving." The Doctor told her, "so can imaginations."

Cara nodded, her mind processing the information, "It was a bit convenient having the alien just drop in on us. Especially just as I was thinking how something would jump out at me if it were a horror film," She smiled slightly, then frowned, "but…how?"

"How," the Doctor narrowed his eyes, "that's where it gets more complicated. Could be some kind of inter-phasic distortion. Wait…projections of brainwaves!"

Cara raised her eyebrows, "Brainwaves caused a tornado?"

The Tardis stopped shaking.

"And _un_caused it! Look, all I had to do was think it had never happened…" the Doctor opened the Tardis door.

Outside, all was peaceful.

The girl stood up and walked over to have a look. She gazed incredulously at the serene fields, the silent trees, and the fort, completely intact as though nothing had happened.

"But how did my my mind…" She slapped her forehead, "Of course! Electrical impulses! Like a computer monitor, converting electrical impulses to visual images!"

"Very close," the Doctor nodded, "it's actually interpretations of the strongest brain waves. Things get exaggerated, changed, skewed a bit." He sighed and looked around, "This fort must be sitting right on top of a neural energy conductor of some kind."

"So all of the weird stuff that's been happening was all imagination." Cara mused, "That doesn't explain the biplanes a week before we landed though. No one here should know about them."

"No," the Doctor agreed, "two possibilities, either one of us imagined that it had been happening for a week, or someone here knows more than they should about the future."

Cara shook her head, "I don't remember thinking…oh geez, how do we know any of this is real?"

"I suppose we don't!" The Doctor grinned widely and headed back into the fort, "we'd better put a stop to it though. History's already being altered."

Cara dashed alongside him, "We just have to be very, very careful what we wish for!"


	4. Chapter 4

"So how does one stop a…what was it? Neural conductor?" Cara asked as they walked through the fort once again.

"Simple principle, really," the Doctor replied, experimentally kicking a clod of dirt and watching a dandelion spring from it.

Cara stared at him questioningly, "So?"

"Hmm?" the Doctor looked up, "Oh yes. Simple in principle, not so in actual execution. "Neural conductivity between realities isn't supposed to happen, but for one reason or another, it does. Usually it occurs where there's a weak rift in realities where they all exist simultaneously. At these points, the brain waves of the people in the immediate area are used as a sort of energy bridge, causing those people to experience things that are actually parts of other realitites." The Doctor paused.

Cara nodded, "Go on."

"Because it requires neural energy to maintain the bridges," the Doctor explained, "the only way to completely destroy it is for everyone near it in every realtity to stop thinking. However, that's never an option. The best we can do is try and fix the hole in our own reality."

"Ah," Cara considered this, "Makes sense. So how do we do that?"

The Doctor shook his head, "In order to permanently fix the problem, the bridges have to be overloaded. Which means that whoever does it has to have a powerful mind and…has to be willing to lose it."

"Lose it? Lose their mind?" Cara looked away, back at several children playing near the church, "Oh."

"A human wouldn't survive it," the Doctor said, following her gaze, "To be honest, I'm not even sure a Time Lord would. No one's meant to have to hold back millions of possible universes with their mind. Most people aren't meant to access all of their brain power, anyway, but they'd have to if they attempted this."

"So basically, when you said we were going to find a way to stop this, you meant we were going to find someone who is willing to essentially explode their brain?" Cara asked hesitantly.

The Doctor looked at her sadly, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Cara gave him a hopeful smile, "There's another option?"

"There may be," the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and hid it up his sleeve, "If we can find the focal point and it's not too large yet, I can stitch up the hole with the Tardis. If we got here in time."

"And if not," Cara added half-jokingly, "Vancouver will be even weirder than when I left."

The Doctor looked straight ahead, "Won't be there at all." He turned away from any fort-dwellers' eyes and surreptitiously began shining the screwdriver around, "In fact, I'd venture a guess that by 2008, the entire western hemisphere will be a place of nightmares after 163 years of millions of imaginations all bridging gaps in realities that never should have been seen. Anything is possible, Cara. Anything that can be thought of can happen, and will. What we're seeing here is only the beginning. It won't be long until every human on this planet will have the powers of a god, and no idea how to use them."

"I can see how that would be a problem," Cara looked nervously at the unsuspecting villagers.

"Aha, found it," The Doctor led her to the well, "Yes, this is definitely the spot."

Cara peered down into the well, "Ack, dizzy," she sat down, "I hate it when this happens, Guess I should have gotten breakfast. Saving the world just seemed so much more important and interesting, though." She gave the Doctor a direct gaze, "So can you fix the hole?"

The Doctor thoughtfully looked at the well, "I wonder if we can get a look at it…" He suddenly went deep in thought.

A pillar of energy sprung from the well, shining brightly like a thick cable of neon signs all twisted together. Blue sparks crackled around it.

Cara gasped in awe. The colorful twirling column mesmerized her; she felt something deep inside her longing to join it in its dance. Then the Doctor's eyes opened and it vanished.

"How did you do that?" Cara blinked.

"I told you, it feeds off brain energy," the Doctor replied, "Time Lords have a lot of that."

Cara suddenly shook, her eyes wide with terror. She started to fall backwards.

The Doctor grabbed her to keep her from falling into the well, "Cara? What's the matter?"

She trembled, but took deep breaths, and gave the Doctor an embarrassed look, "I don't know, sometimes I get panic attacks for no reason. Must be that my puny little human brain can't take all the energy." She smiled, "I'm okay now."

The Doctor gave her shoulders a pat, "If you're sure you're okay, we've got a tough job to do. I'll need your help in the Tardis."

"It's not too late?" Cara asked, standing.

The Doctor rose and glanced at the well, "I hope not."

"You _had_ to think of toast just then!" The Doctor burst into the Tardis behind Cara, wiping butter off his jacket.

Cara shrugged, "Sorry, I'm hungry! I guess the toast was hungry, too."

"We've got to solve this," the Doctor began working on the console, "before you get _really_ hungry and destroy the world with waffles!"

Cara grinned and joined him, "I'll try not to think about it. What do you want me to do?"

The Doctor peeked around the column at her, "Ah, find a small red switch and flip it."

"Okay." She did so. "Might I ask what we're doing?"

The Doctor watched the rotor as it began to move up and down, "Landing on the well Pull that lever with the green knob halfway down."

She did. Then she flipped a few more switches and twisted some knobs.

"Don't!" the Doctor cried as the console sparked. He rushed to compensate for her actions, "What did I tell you about…" Then he glanced at the monitor on the console. "What?" He blinked, "We're directly on top of the well! How did you…?"

Cara stared at him, her gaze confused and glassy. Without taking her eyes off his, she opened a valve, allowing the Tardis access to the rift. With a worried glance at the console, Cara suddenly cried, "I don't know!"

The Doctor immediately manipulated the Tardis' diverse controls to start it "stitching up" the hole.

Cara sank to her knees, "I think…I think we're too late."

The Doctor shook his head, "Maybe not, the Tardis is working on it."

"But it's doomed. It's gone." Cara moaned cryptically, "I'm alone." Her eyes, dark and distant, welled up with tears.

"No," the Doctor reassured her, "no it's not! It's all right outside that door," he pointed, "Look, the Tardis isn't even having trouble." He turned the monitor so she could see it, "See? The rift is closing. Everything will go back to normal. With any luck, no one but us will even remember this mess!" He smiled at her, "So just sit back and relax, because everything's going to be okay."

Cara kept staring intently at nothing, "All those people, we couldn't save them. They all died. And I died. I kept on dying. Over and over."

The Doctor cautiously approached her, "Cara?"

"So alone," she said in a wobbly voice, "All my life I've been alone. I was too smart; they were intimidated. I'm alone in this world. There's nothing left."

The Doctor watched her, stepping slowly closer to her.  
"It can't happen again." Cara turned her head to face him straight on, "Not here."

Then the Doctor knew, "You're trying to stop the rift." He blinked at her, watching her struggle through the overload of thoughts and feelings and memories. He turned to check the monitor once more and saw that the hole was indeed closing, but most of the work wasn't being done by the Tardis.

The Doctor turned back to the girl, "Oh, Cara. I'm so sorry."

"It was already too late," Cara told him, "I felt it. I actually _felt _it. As if the ground I was standing on was unraveling. It had to be stopped."

The Doctor paused, staring at her thoughtfully. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gasped slightly.

She blinked a tear from her eye, "So much…so much knowledge. So many things I'd forgotten. Lifetimes…"

The Doctor grabbed her shoulders again, "Yes, Cara, yes! Concentrate on that! Think about those lives!" He swallowed hard. He had figured it out, it was time she did, too. It was her only chance.

The girl seemed to break from the zombie state for a split-second before crying out, "What are you talking about? Which one is me? Who am I?"

"You know," the Doctor told her, "you know the answer as I do. A Time Lord knows; we can feel it."

Cara sniffled and shook her head, "But I don't know. I'm just a human. Just a…human…"

"Believe it, Cara!" the Doctor cried, "Believe it! Believe it now! You're strong, very strong! Strong enough to save the world. Strong enough to survive this! You have a strong mind!" his voice dropped to a near whisper, "the mind of a Time Lord."

The girl turned to him weakly, "You would have known."

"I would have," the Doctor told her gently, "but you thought you were human, and so did I. The evidence kept staring me in the face but I didn't believe it. I knew I was the last of us. But for that brief instant when you glimpsed your lives, you believed, and I felt it, too."

Cara stared at him.

"And now that I've found you," the Doctor gazed into her brown eyes, "I'm not going to let you go."

"I don't want to die again!" Cara gasped, trembling.  
"Then believe!" the Doctor told her through gritted teeth, "Please! You know in your hearts that it's true!"

"Time Lords have. Two. Hearts." Cara mumbled.

"Yes!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Cara closed her eyes, "What difference does it make now, it's almost ended. Even a Time Lord might not survive."

"You have to try," the Doctor gazed at her pleadingly, "I just wish there was more I could do."

"Time Lord." Cara murmured, "Time Lord."

Just as an alarm signaled the closing of the rift, she collapsed.

The Doctor took her into his arms, holding her close, "You did it. You saved the world, Cara."

She mumbled, "I…remember…"

The Doctor placed her on the sofa and brushed her hair out of her face, "Rest now." He busied himself repairing the Tardis wiring that had sparked.

Cara opened her eyes. She sat up, a puzzled look on her face.

The Doctor stepped in the door of the Tardis, carrying something wrapped in cloth. He smiled when he saw her awake, "How're you feeling?"

She blinked and smiled back, "Weird."

"Hope that includes 'hungry'." He sat next to her and unwrapped the cloth, revealing a bread roll. He broke off half and handed the rest to her.

Cara took it, "Thank you, I feel as though I haven't eaten in 700 years!" She grinned, "That's how old I am. 700. Imagine that." She shook her head and bit into the warm bread.

The Doctor ate his and grinned back at her, "So, now that you've saved the world, what's next for you?"

She stood suddenly and went to the door, cautiously opening it and peeking out.

Villagers walked around, going about their day. No World War I airplanes, no aliens, no tornadoes.

The Doctor joined her, "See, the world's all right now."

Cara smiled, then frowned, "Ours isn't." She turned her face to look into his, "We're all that's left."

The Doctor nodded, "Up until I met you, I thought I was all that was left."

"Up until I met you," Cara replied softly, "I thought I was alone." She looked down and then seemed to shake it off, grinning, "I also thought I had a very short and boring life…boy, was I wrong!"

The Doctor grinned at her, "So you remember it all now?"

"Almost." Cara nodded, "I remember five lives and this one, but there was another, right before this one, my sixth life. All I can remember about it is that it was during the Time War. I don't remember how I died...or how I survived." She shrugged, "Everything else is coming back to me. I just wonder why I forgot it in the first place."

The Doctor reached out and hugged her, "I don't know, Cara, but I'm glad you remember now."

Cara nodded and hugged him back, "Me too." She pulled back and closed the Tardis door, giggling, "You know, my name isn't really Cara. That was just one I chose."

"Can I still call you Cara?" the Doctor asked, "You'll always be Cara to me."

"Of course, Doctor." Cara smiled, "So where to next?"

"I have no idea!" the Doctor replied.

With a pair of wide grins, the Doctor and Cara simultaneously dashed to the Tardis controls to begin their next adventure.

Jacob stood up, hearing a loud scraping sound. He dashed out the door and to the fort gate, peering out. He saw the faint image of a small building fading away. The young man sighed and walked dejectedly back into the fort.


End file.
